The Read In
by willynilly23
Summary: Random AU post 4X10 story. I love Barber and I miss Walkerson, so here you go...
1. Chapter 1

The Read In

NOTE: Just a random AU post 4X10 story for fun. I am enthralled by Barber these days.

Auggie was drifting in and out of sleep in the early hours of a Thursday morning, when the secure phone he had only for Annie rang for the first time in weeks.

"Hey," he said quietly.

"Hey, sorry to wake you," her voice was softer and more relaxed than normal.

"No problem, not really asleep," he clarified and sat up to concentrate.

"You're in bed though, right, all rumpled and adorable," she sighed.

"I don't know how adorable I am ," he shrugged.

"Trust me, I can paint the picture in my head," she sounded almost happy.

"Did you call for phone sex? Cause I can totally get there, but if this is work I better stay focused," he grinned and she laughed in response.

"It is work actually, but it may result in more than phone sex if you agree," she teased.

"Where do you need me?"

"Lisbon."

"Soon as possible?"

"Yes and no, I want you here quickly but we need to be strategic. I actually think we might need back up."

"Muscle?"

"No, geek back up. Do you think Barber would go with you?"

"On an unspecified, unsanctioned Op with a dead woman, sure," Auggie shrugged.

"Obviously we would have to read him in, but Auggie, I think if we can hack this server this might be all over. Henry was in town this week, meeting with a cast of characters right out of an episode of 24, it was a who's who of dark ops types. They have a front company here, something to do with olive oil and dried fish, but I have been surveiling for a week and nothing has come and gone but shady looking dudes."

"OK, let me convince Barber to go away for a long weekend. That sounds very strange out loud. I will obviously have to read him in," Auggie left that dangling.

"Of course, the three of us will have to work together."

"I'll post the arrival details."

"I'll reply with the address."

"Am I really going to see you in a couple days?" Auggie said his voice low and gravelly.

"Yes," she whispered and hung up.

Auggie gave up on sleep at that point and got up and began packing a small bag.

***555***

Eric Barber was hacking away at his computer when an internal IM popped up from Auggie.

"Free for lunch?"

"I have a meeting at 12:30, is 1:00 OK?" Barber replied.

"I work in the basement, I have all the time in the world," Auggie typed back.

"I'll come get you," Barber typed in response knowing Auggie hated coming back up to the DPD these days.

Shortly after 1:00 pm Eric Barber stepped off the elevator in the sub-basement and found Auggie clacking away with his headphones on. He knocked loudly to be heard over whatever Auggie had blaring through the headset.

"Hey," Auggie smiled and finished before logging out of his screen.

When they got outside Auggie realized how cold it had gotten, the months slipping by without Annie, he shivered.

"Our usual?" Barber asked as they approached his car.

"Actually, I need to talk to you about something Eric, can we grab something and take it back to my place?"

"Sure," Barber agreed no questions asked.

They swung by a sandwich place near Auggie's loft and were seated at the bar in Auggie's kitchen in 20 minutes.

"You going somewhere?" Barber noted the small suitcase near the door.

"I am and that is what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Are you taking a break, you really need one Auggie, it has been a rough few months for you. If you need me to cover anything at Langley just say the word," Barber offered.

"Thanks Eric, that is really good of you, but I actually need a little more than that. I need you to come with me," Auggie mentioned as he bit into his sandwich.

"Oh," Barber seemed confused, he knew Auggie travelled alone all the time, he didn't need a sighted lead to go somewhere.

"It's not a vacation, it is an unsanctioned op," Auggie clarified.

"Oh," Barber replied his mouth dry.

"I know you have already done so much for me, so much that could get you fired, but this might be the end of it. We are close to uncovering the last bits of evidence against Henry, bringing him down for good."

"We?" Barber wasn't a spy for no good reason.

"There will be another Operative working with us," Auggie mentioned and moved right on, "we're going to Lisbon, tomorrow. I bought your ticket and hacked a Personal Day Request and got it approved for you, we'll be back by Monday."

"What if I said no?" Barber laughed.

"I'd eat the $1500 last minute fare to Lisbon and you could spend tomorrow watching soap operas," Auggie shrugged.

"What's the Op?"

"Server hack, right up your alley. Security is pretty tight, it will be easier to breach if we are both attacking simultaneously."

"Is it dangerous, not that that is a deal breaker, but you are more accustomed to being shot at than I am," Barber winced.

"Shouldn't be and we'll have back up and fire power.'

"Who's the third Operative?" Barber asked innocently.

"I'll fill you in on everything on the plane, if you're in," Auggie tried to sound nonchalant, but he didn't want to tell Eric about Annie until they were already enroute, in case he balked.

"Of courser man, what time do we leave?"

***555***

Auggie let Barber have the aisle seat for his long legs and crammed in the middle seat between him and what he assessed to be a young woman wearing too much flowery perfume. About 20 minutes into the flight the seat belt sign went off, the flight attendants served drinks and Auggie sipped his orange juice contemplatively.

"So you got me on the plane, what are you going to tell me that you were afraid to say on the ground," Barber called him out on his tactics.

"You are smarter than you look Barber," Auggie grinned and Barber was offended until he realized who he was talking to.

"Funny Auggie, now spill."

"Everything is as I laid it out, totally tech op, no expected danger. We have a safe house to work in and an Operative on site to provide insight and back up to our objective," Auggie whispered.

"So who is the third person, I have been racking my brain since I left your place yesterday. It can't be anyone from the company . Is it that guy who helped you last year when our friend had that problem in Moscow?" Barber very vaguely mentioned Eyal.

"No, actually it is our friend who had the problem in Moscow," Auggie replied quietly and was met with silence.

"Auggie?" Barber finally croaked.

"I'm sorry Eric, Annie isn't gone, she's in Libon…"

TBC…


	2. Chapter 2

The Read In Part 2

Barber didn't say much else for the rest of the flight, he put on his noise cancelling headphones and tuned Auggie right out. Auggie listened to Mingus and tried to quell the warring feelings of guilt for lying to everyone for months and joy at the thought of seeing Annie after all this time.

As they cleared Customs in Lisbon Auggie told Eric to look for a guy with a sign that said: Walkerson Telecom.

"You guys are like Brangelina now?" Barber scoffed.

Auggie just smiled and followed Barber's lead. Sure enough Barber found a chauffeur with the exact sign Auggie told him to look for and he waved to the fellow who led them quietly to a waiting Town Car. The chauffeur opened the door and Barber gasped when he saw Annie sitting in the back.

Auggie was vibrating with the desire to touch her, but Barber appeared frozen in time.

"Good to see you Eric," Annie smiled and the man finally moved to get in, placing Auggie's hand on the roof of the vehicle to orient him.

"You too," Barber said quietly and took the seat opposite Annie in the luxury car.

Auggie ducked his head in and Annie reached for his elbow pulling him towards her and hugging him close as he maneuvered his legs into the car.

"Auggie," it was less of a word and more of an exhalation.

"Hey," he replied similarly, his head tucked in the crook of her neck, his lips finding her skin.

Neither of them wanted to let go, but both of them knew they were not alone.

"Sorry Eric," Annie said with a blush when she separated from Auggie.

She kept him close though, her hand on his knee, her shoulder touching his.

"So you two haven't seen each other for a while?"

"Since Annie went dark," Auggie admitted his hand finding hers on his knee.

"Wow, that must be hard. Not as hard as thinking you were dead, but hey," Barber blew out a frustrated breath.

"I'm sorry about that too, you have to know it was a last resort, an extreme measure I did not take lightly," she said sincerely and turned her hand under Auggie's lacing their fingers together.

Barber wasn't sure if she was apologizing to him or Auggie, but the two Operatives across from him looked simultaneously miserable and giddy.

"I'm sure I am not here to witness your reunion, so give me some more details on how we got to this point," Barber leaned back in the seat and listened to Annie recount the way she tracked Henry via Sana for a couple months and the asset she turned in Lisbon that brought them to today.

By the time Annie finished filling the guys in on the details of the mission they had reached her apartment. It wasn't much, but it actually had a decent sized bedroom and a small room Annie used as an office that had a futon in it for Barber. Annie and Auggie left Barber to unpack and settle in and headed to Annie's room.

As soon as Annie shut the door she threw herself into Auggie's arms.

"I didn't realize what seeing you again would do to me," she choked out.

Auggie held her close, matching his heart rate and his breathing to hers, trying to meld their bodies into one being. Finally she broke and pulled back enough to kiss him her tongue demanding entrance to his mouth.

"Mmmmm," he moaned and the vibration radiated from his body to hers and drove her mad.

She began walking them back towards her bed, her hands moving from the small of his back around to the buckle of his belt. Somewhere in the recesses of his desire-addled mind Auggie brought them back to reality.

"Annie, God, sorry, please, stop," every word sounded like a prayer or a plea.

She froze for a second fearing he didn't want her any more, despite the physical evidence she could catalog with her hands and lips. Auggie caught his breath before he said anything else.

"I want you so badly, I can barely breathe, but Barber is right next door and he is pissed enough at us, we can't leave him hanging while we have a quickie. And trust me, later, when I get you alone, I intend to be anything other than quick," he smiled and kissed her softly.

"Yeah," she nodded in agreement, "sorry, I got a little carried away there."

"Please don't apologize," he smiled warmly.

***555***

"Hey Barber, you hungry?" Annie poked her head into the room where Barber was booting up his computer.

He looked up with a face that said 'that was a stupid question' and Annie grinned, maybe the ice was melting a little.

"I'm going to grab some food from the restaurant down the street, there is beer in the fridge, you guys get comfortable," she announced and slipped through the door.

"Her hair is different," Barber said as he made his way to the fridge and got himself and Auggie a beer.

"It is?" Auggie said puzzled.

"Dark, used to be blonde," Barber shrugged as he popped the tops off the beers.

"Oh, it still feels the same," Auggie admitted realizing he had no real idea what Annie looked like.

"You've done a really good job of making us all think you were grieving," Barber said still hurt a little.

"I have been grieving though, not Annie's death, but her decision. I've been constantly worried and basically working 2 jobs for the past few months trying to help her and keep up appearances at Langley," Auggie was exhausted and frustrated and didn't want to have to placate Barber.

"But we thought she died," Barber clarified.

"And I am constantly worried she might, trust me that is worse," Auggie said with a sigh.

Suddenly he realized how different this go around was then when Helen "died". He mourned her certainly, but then he moved on with his life. This was a hellish limbo full of uncertainty.

"She was really happy to see you," Barber said quietly.

"Yeah?" Auggie knew this of course but it was interesting to hear another point of view.

"I have never seen a woman look at a man the way she looked at you. It was this perfect combination of love and admiration and longing, it was breath-taking man," Barber took a long pull off the beer.

"I think she is les guarded because I can't see her looks, she doesn't have to temper them," Auggie shrugged.

"Maybe, but I would kill to have a woman want me as much as she clearly wanted you in that car."

"We've gone through a lot to get to this point," Auggie accepted the cold bottle Barber brushed along his hand.

"Truth be told, she has always kind of looked at you like that."

"Seriously?" Auggie was shocked.

"As long as I can remember," Barber confirmed.

"Huh," Auggie catalogued that away for further investigation.

"Will she be able to come back?"

"Depends on how the whole thing ends, but most Operatives that do what Annie did either have to stay in the shadows or retire, if they survive," Auggie choked a little on the last word.

"I want to help you get her home," Barber sat down and patted Auggie on the arm.

TBC…


	3. Chapter 3

The Read In Part 3 of 4

Annie returned with dinner to find Auggie and Barber already working. She convinced them to eat and then left them to their own devices, only a shout away in the next room.

It was a strange feeling for Annie, to be the passive one, to let others help her. She had been on her own for so long now it was odd to be part of a team again.

"Annie!" Barber called.

"Yes," she popped back in.

"I can't make out what this says and Auggie here has been no help," Barber grinned as he handed Annie a piece of paper with her own handwriting on it.

"Garrett Levine," she translated her chicken scratch.

"Henry met with him on 2 occasions that I can confirm. Hoping his name might be in that server somewhere."

"If we can get a photo of him I can run him through Hummingbird," Auggie suggested.

Annie moved behind Auggie's chair and put her hands on his shoulders, she leaned her head against his, her lips to his ear.

"You are so smart," she whispered and could see the smile on his face reflected in his laptop screen.

Once she had given in to touching him again she really didn't want to stop, but it seemed Auggie and Barber had a groove going and weren't too tired yet, so she left them again as not to distract their progress.

She decided to do a load of laundry in the apartment building's basement and she made a pot of coffee. She sat on the bed and wondered if there was a shop open nearby that sold lingerie, she certainly didn't have anything sexy in her limited wardrobe, not that she anticipated needing anything to get either one of them in the mood.

Finally, around 1:00 am she returned to the little office.

"How's it going in here?"

"Good, we have launched a few very stealthy little worms, but they will likely need several hours to bore their way in, if we go too fast it could send up red flags," Barber explained.

"Makes sense," Annie smiled and nodded.

"Might as well sleep while they work," Barber suggested.

"Pillow and blankets there and the bathroom is all yours," Annie indicated the linens on the futon.

"Thanks," Barber smiled.

"I'll be right in," Auggie looked towards her as he finished up his typing.

"K," Annie smiled, "Good night Eric."

"Good night."

Auggie finished up his work and pushed back from the computer.

"Barber, there may not be a more awkward moment than this in our entire relationship, but…."

"I am one step ahead of you Auggie, you don't even have to say it, I have noise cancelling headphones I brought for the flight and I have every intention of wearing them to bed," Barber patted Auggie on the back as he made his way to the bathroom to prepare for bed.

***555***

Auggie reached the doorway of the bedroom, he couldn't hear her, but he sensed her there.

"Hey, where are you?" he said quietly.

"In bed, about five paces directly in front of you," she replied and sounded almost shy.

Auggie reached the bed and stripped off his long sleeve tee shirt, he toed off his shoes and pushed them under the bed, he could feel her watching him. He undid the buckle of his belt and unbuttoned his jeans, his hands shaking from adrenaline and too much coffee. He managed to get the jeans off and laid them at the foot of the bed before slipping beneath the blankets in his boxers.

"You're a little overdressed," Annie whispered as she slid into his arms.

His hands roamed as far as they could and found nothing but warm soft skin.

"Nice," he smiled as his lips found her shoulder.

"I was all upset that I didn't have anything new to wear, so I settled on nothing," she shrugged and he turned his lips from her shoulder to the crook of her neck, breathing in the intoxicating sweetness of her.

Annie busied herself removing the one small article of clothing between them and used her own hands to explore the contours of Auggie's body, noting he seemed thinner while still toned.

Auggie rolled Annie flat on her back and kissed his way tenderly down her body, he felt her muscles twitch and contract and heard her breath hitch, but she was quiet. Finally he brought his mouth to the spot on her hip that almost always made her squeak and he heard her swallow the noise.

"Hey, don't worry, Barber is wearing noise cancelling headphones," he laughed as he kissed back up her body, rubbing against her deliciously as he went.

"Oh god, you guys planned this?" she covered her face in embarrassment, "he knows we're having sex?"

"He's not an idiot Annie, he kind of figured that out when we declared our love for each other live to Langley. Add to that our forced separation and the way, apparently, you look at me, and he offered to wear the noise cancelling headphones to bed."

"The way I look at you?" she asked.

"He said it was quite something," Auggie grinned in the dim light of the bedroom and Annie could do nothing more than lean up and kiss him.

"I thought I had a better poker face than that, but I guess I have always had a weakness for you," she smiled against his lips.

"Always?" he quirked an eyebrow.

"Well, there is no way of knowing if the weak-kneed feeling I had when we met was you or the first day at Langley, but the work butterflies vanished and the ones I got every time I heard your voice or saw your smile never really did. Still haven't," she admitted quietly.

"Yeah?" he asked suddenly shy himself, his fingers dancing across her skin as she shuddered and fluttered beneath them.

"Oh yeah," she assured him as she deepened their kisses.

The kissing turned serious quickly, Auggie sliding his hands under Annie's back and turning them over, pulling her on top of him with ease, shifting his legs and hips so she fit perfectly on top of him, their legs tangled and their hands trying for purchase at every turn.

***555***

"Barber is going to be glad he brought those noise cancelling headphones," Annie said with a giggle as she collapsed on top of Auggie.

His arms wrapped around her tightly, rocking her back and forth.

"Let's try to never go months without sex again," he suggested.

"That sounds like a plan Mr. Anderson," she nodded against his warm bare chest.

***555***

Annie heard Barber moving around and glanced at the clock, it was only 5:15 and she and Auggie had hardly gotten any sleep. She reached for his tee shirt, pulling it over her head, but couldn't bring herself to get out of the cozy little bed. Auggie migrated back to her now cloth-covered arms and she cradled his head in her lap, running her fingers through his hair and hoped Barber just had to use the bathroom and he would go back to sleep, like a small child.

Instead the movement was followed by a tentative knocking on the door.

"Come in," Annie whispered loud enough for Barber to hear.

He opened the door and an involuntary smile brightened his bearded face at the sight of the two of them curled together.

"I'm really sorry to interrupt, but I think we have something," Barber whispered.

Auggie, who had been trying to fight the intrusion, was suddenly awake.

"Yeah?" he asked as he rolled onto his back and scrubbed a hand over his face.

"Yeah," Barber agreed.

"Let me find my pants and I will be right there," Auggie smiled broadly.

TBC… 


	4. Chapter 4

The Read In Part 4

Saturday was a whirlwind. Once the firewall was breached the intel just started pouring out of Henry's front company. Annie charted all the players and Auggie and Barber tracked money and weapons all over the globe.

Using Hummingbird and other facial recognition tracking Auggie found footage of Henry in all sorts of places he shouldn't have been and could now identify the other parties thanks to the data they uncovered.

By 6:00 pm on Saturday the evidence was overwhelming.

"We have him, right guys? I'm not a law enforcement officer, but we've got him?" Barber asked as he munched on a sandwich.

"I think we do," Annie looked shocked.

"This is a gold mine Annie, and you found it," Auggie shook his head in awe.

"I wouldn't have been able to do anything with it without you guys though. Is it really going to be over?"

"We need to talk to Calder, but I think it might be…" 

"Calder?" Barber piped in.

"He's been helping us," Auggie admitted.

"But he shot her," Barber pointed emphatically at Annie.

"It was part of the plan Barber, he was on our side at that point," Annie clarified.

"How many people were on your side?" Barber was suddenly annoyed again.

"Calder is the only other person at Langley who knows Eric, I promise you that, even Joan thinks I'm dead."

Barber just nodded which left Auggie frowning at the silence.

"Go ahead, call him," Barber stood and left the room.

"I'll talk to him," Annie said as Auggie took out his phone.

As Annie passed, Auggie reached out and took her hand.

"We're going to get you home, safely and with your career intact Walker, I won't settle for anything less," Auggie brought her hand to his lips.

***555***

"You OK?" Annie asked when she found Barber with his head in his hands at the small kitchen table.

She opened the fridge and grabbed 2 beers.

"Been kind of an up and down couple of days," he laughed and took the beer.

"It's a lot to take in and it means a lot to me that I was missed," Annie grinned.

"I can't believe you trusted Calder more than you trusted me, I had been helping Auggie off book for weeks," Barber said quietly peeling the label of the Portuguese beer.

"It was not a matter of trust, it was the only play I had, Calder was going to take me in and I had to turn him, had to make him see our objective."

"And you did?"

"Calder is an ass, but he isn't dirty, he wants to see Henry brought to justice," Annie shrugged and sipped her beer.

"And we have to trust him one more time," Auggie stated as he joined the pair in the kitchen.

"What did he say?"

"Based on what I could convey over the phone he thinks we should bring it all back, including you," Auggie said with a small smile.

"Really?"

"Really. We'll need to keep you under wraps until everything is finalized, but he thinks it will be a matter of days not weeks."

Annie didn't respond she just stood up and threw herself into Auggie's unsuspecting arms. He rebounded quickly, bringing his arms strongly around her as her lips latched on to his. One kiss led to another and after a couple of minutes Barber finally spoke up.

"Um, hey, guys," his voice squeaked.

Annie blushed furiously and separated herself from Auggie.

"Sorry," Auggie said but he didn't sound particularly contrite.

"So what now?" Barber asked.

"We back it all up, I am talking buy every flash drive in Lisbon and copy this data. I have a couple snail mail protocols in place, one Calder knows about. If our plane goes down tomorrow Henry will still spend the rest of his life in a federal prison," Auggie said emphatically.

"I'm on it," Barber stood.

"I'll get the extra flash drives and some more food and beer. We should have a party, say good-bye to the dark side," Annie grabbed her bag and left.

***555***

"So, since you are reading me in on all the details, I have a question," Barber said brazenly after a couple more beers.

"Shoot," Auggie said and winced at his choice of words.

"Nice," Annie poked him in the ribs.

"How long have you two been together?"

"We got together the night of Jai's declassification ceremony," Annie admitted.

"Hmmmm," Barber nodded.

"What?" Auggie asked with a smile.

"Some people thought it was long before that, others were shocked to hear you declare your love over the phone," Barber shrugged.

"And you? Where did you fall?" Annie asked.

"Well, as I said to Auggie here one day, I was really hoping it was true, that you were together, but I was in the van with you when we went after Fischer and I had never seen two people so in love and so miserable at the same time. You two were both a mess," Barber chuckled morosely.

"Don't hold back Barber, tell us how you really feel," Auggie said sternly.

"He's right Auggie, we both kind of hit rock bottom there. "

"I was also at the hospital after you were shot Annie, and Auggie couldn't have been more devastated. I really hoped you two weren't cursed. When you died I was afraid I was right. You guys have a chance now, to be happy, to be together, I hope you take advantage of it," Barber smiled sadly and excused himself to the bathroom.

Annie and Auggie sat in stunned silence for a second and then Auggie reached for her, pulling her out of her seat and into his lap.

"Marry me," he whispered against her ear.

She just nodded as if it was the simplest of requests. He didn't say another word.

The End


End file.
